Recent Reads I Recommend

Views from the Loft: A Portable Writer’s Workshop edited by Daniel Slager

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School by John Medina

The Mind & The Brain by Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Sharon Begley

The Scientific American Brave New Brain by Judith Horstman

Brain & Neuroplasticity

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.The Brain that Changes Itself: Personal Stories of Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman DoidgeThe Owner’s Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research by Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D.Mapping the Mind by Rita CarterThe Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life by Joseph LeDouxSynaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph LeDouxThe Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind by Elkhonon GoldbergTrain Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves by Sharon BegleyThe Brain Has a Mind of Its Own: Insights from a Practicing Neurologist by Richard Restak, M.D.Brain Work and Brain in the News FREE subscriptions from the Dana Foundation; visit www.dana.orgfor a variety of great information

Creativity

The Artist’s Way by Julia CameronThe Creativity Habit by Twyla TharpDancing in the Dragon’s Den: Rekindling the Creative Fire in Your Shadowby Rosanne BaneCreativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiFlow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiLife, Paint and Passion: Reclaiming the Magic of Spontaneous Expression by Michell Cubley and Stewart CassouDrawing on the Artist Within by Betty EdwardsThe Creative Fire (CD) by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Writing – Inspiration

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph KeyesThe Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting from Frustration to Publication by Ralph KeyesThe War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven PressfieldArt & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted OrlandDancing in the Dragon’s Den: Rekindling the Creative Fire in Your Shadow by Rosanne BaneIf You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda UelandBecoming a Writer by Dorothea BrandeWriting Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie GoldbergWild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie GoldbergBird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Writing – Craft

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen KingFrom Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen ButlerWriting the Wave: Inspired Rides for Aspiring Writers by Elizabeth AyresSteering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader and the Imagination by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Passionate, Accurate Story: Making Your Heart’s Truth into Literature by Carol BlyHow to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott CardThe Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

Writing – Getting Published

The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book by Susan PageHow to Write a Book Proposal by Michael LarsenGive ‘Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. CookWriting the Breakout Novel: Insider Advice for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level by Donald MaassThe Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner